Warp and Weft ~ Images and Words: 2026

Thursday, August 13, 2026

The Haiku Foundation, re: Virals, July 2026

re: Virals 565 - July 24, 2026

The Haiku Foundation's weekly poem commentary feature on some of the finest haiku ever written in English. This week's poem was chosen by Jennifer Gurney (thank you, Jennifer):

https://thehaikufoundation.org/revirals-565/

tidal surge this wave of something unutterable

Haiku Girl Summer, July 2, 2026

New Zealand Poetry Society International Poetry Competition, 2026

My thanks to Graham Bates, the judge of this contest!

the silence

of Candlemas bells . . .

final chemo

3rd Place

Judge's Commentary:

Commonly known as snowdrops, these bulbs got their nickname through their Northern Hemisphere bloom time aligning with the Christian festival of Candlemas. They tell us that it is late winter or early spring, and are associated with purification, light and hope, which in this haiku is also the hope of a successful treatment and recovery. The silence could be an eerie one, but it also brought to mind Thomas Merton's exploration of the concept of silence as the ultimate form of prayer.

shed antlers

bleached by the sun . . .

grandfather's hands

Commended

Judge's Commentary:

Antlers are shed in late winter and early spring, but these must have spent a long time out in the sun to turn chalky white, like the grandfather's arthritic hands with poor circulation, whose fingers struggle to fully open. Of course, antlers, in deer, are associated with masculinity, but these hands cannot be shed and regrown, though they may at times feel as useless as those shed antlers.

Our Best Haiga: Black and White Haiga/Haisha, August 2026

Curated by Lavana Kray

August 6, 2026: "fan" feature

(note: this haiku was included in the 16th Yamadera Basho Contest Selected Haiku Collection, 2024)

Our Best Haiga: Black and White Haiga/Haisha, July 2026

Curated by Lavana Kray

July 6, 2026: "cobweb" feature

(note: this haiku first appeared in Akitsu Quarterly, Winter 2018)

July 13, 2026: Honoured that this haiga was selected as one of the best haiga/haisha submitted in July!

(note: this tanka first appeared in Presence 72, March 2020)

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Wales Haiku Journal, Summer 2026

lemon pips the one that got away

Tsuri-doro: A Small Journal of Haiku and Senryu, Issue #34, July/August/September 2026

the tip

of a leveret's tongue . . .

school recess

Triya Mag: Monsoon Edition, July/August 2026

Translated into Hindi

Honoured to have the following haiku selected as Editor's Choice:

cloudfall

mother's face softens

into sleep

Acorn, Number 56, Spring 2026

Commentary by Teji Sethi:

This haiku achieves its subtle power through contrast. The fragment, cloudfall suggests heaviness, thunder, and the forceful descent of rain. Yet in the very next phrase, the image shifts to the mother's face, softening into sleep—a gesture of quiet tenderness.

This haiku by Debbie distills a moment into three lines, embodying the essence of haikai aesthetics. It carries karumi, the lightness that allows the verse to breathe and zoka, the vital energy of nature that makes the image striking. The interplay of a storm's intensity with the gentleness of rest, creates a layered resonance. It reminds us that even within life's turbulence, there is repose.

With this evocative haiku, we open the Monsoon Edition to our readers...

Also included in this edition:

distant slopes

turning blue at twilight

the soft folds

of this tweed blanket draped

around father's shoulders

Runner-up, The Linda Jeannette Ward Tanka Award

British Haiku Society Awards, 2025

Tinywords, Issue 26.1, July 2026

Note: this haiku first appeared in Creatrix 62, 2023

Time Haiku, Number 64, August 2026

wolfsnow the howl in it

showy milkweed

the first monarch

and the last

clouds tower

over sun-drenched fields . . .

my sister leans

from a golden turret,

letting down her hair

tuffets sprout

alongside this river . . .

the first

nursery rhyme I read

to our unborn child

rowan trees

dripping with icicles

each berry

a singular moment

frozen inside time

Sundog, Issue 1, July 2026

caribou bones

water bombers release

their payloads

wrack flies

a starling flock gathers

for the feast

Suspect Device Punkzine, Number 18, June 2026

Turning Japanese: War Crimes and Propaganda

My thanks to the editor, Tim Gardiner, for nominating the following poem for a Touchstone Award:

doomsayer

spitting out bile . . .

flecks of sea foam

Sonic Boom, July 2026

unnamed

The Solitary Daisy, Issue 78, July 2026

I'm grateful to the editors, Michele Rule and Sally Quon, for inviting me to submit the following award details for Random Blue Sparks!

1st Place (joint) in the 2026 Haiku Canada Marianne Bluger Book Awards

3rd Place in the 2025 Haiku Society of America Merit Book Awards

Shorlisted for a Haiku Foundation Award

Smols, July 2026

we only

planted one . . .

zucchini!

Prune Juice, Issue 49, August 2026

Honoured to be the cover artist for this issue with "Imaginarium"!

The following haiga was also included in this issue:

Presence, Number 85, July 2026

spur trail

a once-red bandana

tied to the stump

crowded pier

legions of seagulls

fully caffeinated

unmown hay

flattened by heavy frost . . .

a small herd

of pronghorn beds down

beside the auction sign

Sakura Fubuki: Pakistan Japan Cultural Association Islamabad (PJCA), First International Multilingual Haiku Anthology, Summer 2026

Thrilled to have the following haiku included in this anthology on the theme of cherry blossoms and translated into Urdu and Japanese:

mother's passing

this fallen branch

of sakura

Mariposa, Number 54, Spring/Summer 2026

beach camp

yooperlites lead us

to the outhouse

(note: yooperlites = fluorescent rocks)

I unlock

the rust-pocked gate . . .

my world

slows down to this moment

of bees, birds, and breath

(note: this tanka was submitted and accepted with the first line as "I unlock", but published in error with the first line as "unlock")

Laurels: Tanka Society of America Online Journal, Number 6, August 2026

My thanks to guest editor Rick Jackofsky for including the following tanka on the theme of "mono no aware"!

at my feet,

cicada shells lie empty

and forlorn . . .

I miss the sound of you

singing our babies to sleep

Leaf Journal, Issue 10, August 2026

crumbling cliffs this loss more than words

seaside fireworks

herring shoals disperse

the light

4-H Club

woolly clouds fluff up

the sky

Heliosparrow Poetry Journal, August 2026

Featured August 4, 2026:

Wagasa

(note: wagasa = traditional Japanese umbrella)

Heliosparrow Poetry Journal, July 2026

Featured July 18, 2026:

Owlish

Hedgerow Poems, Number 153, 2026

brackish water

a coil of elvers migrates

upstream

Half Day Moon Journal, Issue No. 4, August 2026

siren songs more than 130 words for wind

wild gentians untwisting the prairie sky

night migration the starred tips of reindeer lichen

jisei : this cairn of smooth, black stones

(note: jisei = death poem)

Haiku Girl Summer, 2026

Curated by Allyson Whipple

July 2, 2026 - Guest Editor, Richa Sharma

tidal surge this wave of something unutterable

beach-tumbled

the agates that will become

my earrings

July 20, 2026 - Guest Haiga Editor, Melanie Alberts

Haiga in Focus, Issue 96, August 2026

Curated by Claudia Brefeld

Translated into German

Haiga in Focus, Issue 95, July 2026

Curated by Claudia Brefeld

Translated into German

Fresh Out: An Arts and Poetry Collective, July 2026

Curated by Eric A. Lohman

Featured Artist: July 28, 2026

note: ku-kyo = hollow emptiness

Five Fleas Itchy Poetry, July 2026

hurricane cone(head) of uncertainty

paleo dig

the waste chamber

of a whistle-pig

#FemkuMag, Issue 42, Summer 2026

crushing

juniper berries between

our fingers

the scent of gin conjures

unwelcome memories

this world

is unsafe for innocents . . .

a crow

shakes its tail feathers

once, twice, three times

Enchanted Garden Haiku Journal, Issue 16, Lunae Feeria, July 2026

Translated into Romanian

a child's eyes

full of lightning bugs . . .

mason jars

Echidna Tracks, Issue 17, Winter/Spring 2026

shift change

stars take over

the sky

Daily Haiku: Charlotte Digregorio's Writer's Blog, July 2026

Senryu Feature - July 25, 2026

memorial service

our tea sweetened

with sympathy

Enchanted Garden Haiku Journal, Issue 13, 2025

Daily Haiga: An Edited Journal of Traditional and Contemporary Haiga, August 2026

Featured Artist: August 2, 2026

Note: this tanka was first published in Eucalypt 39, 2025

Featured Artist: August 12, 2026

Note: this tanka was first published in Presence 83, 2025

Daily Haiga: An Edited Journal of Traditional and Contemporary Haiga, July 2026

Featured Artist: July 5, 2026

Note: this haiku was first published in Seashores 14, April 2025

Contemporary Haibun Online, Issue 22.2, August 2026

Honoured that the following haiga was selected for the cover of this issue, and was also included in the Haiga Gallery. My thanks to Ron Moss!

Circle of Salt, August 2026

The Prophecy of Ravens

The Bougainvillea Journal, Issue 2, August 2026

singing bowl

a humpback whale

knows the tune

humid day

our hammock limp

until the bear

Thursday, June 25, 2026

Haiku Canada: Marianne Bluger Awards, 2026

Thrilled to receive joint 1st Place in the 2026 Marianne Bluger Book Awards for Random Blue Sparks! My thanks to the judges.

Judging Commentary:

We were looking for haiku and related forms that ring true; a book or chapbook that demonstrates coherence and flow; and a book design that enhances the poet's work. A tall order, as all of these features work together to engage a reader.

—Terry Ann Carter and Philomene Kocher

Quail Eggs: A Tanka Journal, Issue 5, June 2026

north winds

whipping the snowbanks

into a frenzy . . .

our dog burrows deeper

into her fireside dreams

Haiku 2026: 100 Notable Ku from 2025, Modern Haiku Press, 2026

Thrilled to be included in this anthology edited by Lee Gurga and Scott Metz!

moorland the beginning and onding of snow

(note: "onding" = heavy fall of rain or snow)

NOON: Journal of the Short Poem 27

Modern Haiku, Vol. 57.2, Summer 2026

family reunion

a jumble of shells

at low tide

rotted rafters

fog curdles around

the owl's call

Honourable Mention

Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Award Competition for 2026

Judge's Commentary:

This one refused to let go of me. I kept returning to it so I could study how its three entities interacted. The fog and the owl's call help to make this haiku feel dreamy and infused with yugen, quiet grace and mystery. When fog curdles, it becomes very dense, transforming into liquid water droplets. Using "curdles" as a verb also seems to imply that something is going sour, adding some menace to the scene. This haiku is essentially about transformation. The solid rafters are rotting. The fog is turning into water droplets. There is also some intriguing synesthesia at work here as the visual fog curdles around the sound of an owl. Matter, shapes, and sounds are all undergoing transformation. In addition, this haiku is full of euphony created by the alliteration of "r" sounds and the consonance of "l" sounds. Plus, there are three words, "curdle," "owl," and "call," that interact in pleasing ways euphonically. And the words "curdles around" yielded a shadow word of "curls," also adding to the movement and shape of this haiku moment.

—Brad Bennett

Museum of Haiku Literature, Japan

I'm honoured to know that Masako Kakutani will introduce "Random Blue Sparks" to haiku poets in Japan who are interested in English-language haiku, and that Haijin Kyokai (Tokyo, Japan) will include my book in the Museum of Haiku Literature collection!

Heliosparrow Poetry Journal, June 2026

Featured June 15, 2026:

Fearless

Haiku Girl Summer: A Picnic Sky, 2023 - 2025, 2026

splash pad

bubbles run away

with the light

sun dress

the clear margins

of her biopsy

sand dunes

this path leading

to the clouds

Haiku Girl Summer, 2026

Curated by Allyson Whipple

June 18, 2026 - Guest Editor, C.X. Turner

seaworn stones the journey from your pocket to mine

Fresh Out: An Arts and Poetry Collective, June 2026

Curated by Eric A. Lohman

Featured Artist: June 9, 2026

(note: this haiku first appeared in Mayfly 62, 2017)

Daily Haiku: Charlotte Digregorio's Writer's Blog, June 2026

rotted rafters

fog curdles around

the owl's call

Honourable Mention

The Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Awards, 2026

distant slopes

turning blue at twilight

the soft folds

of this tweed blanket draped

around father's shoulders

Runner-up

The British Haiku Society Linda Jeannette Ward Tanka Award, 2025

Eucalypt, Issue 40, May 2026

fishmongers

hawk their silvery wares

on the beach

small girls gather sequins

from a mermaid's dress

Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, 9:2, Spring/Summer 2026

gleaning wrens

we donate your clothes

to the shelter

requiem

tamarisk leaves let go

of their salt

Monday, June 08, 2026

Forestry England - The Magic of Maples Haiku Competition, 2026

Honoured to receive a Commendation in this competition. Over 550 haiku were submitted from around the world. The winning, placed, commended, and honourable mentioned poems will all form part of an outdoor exhibition at Westonbirt Arboretum during the autumn season (September - November) 2026. My thanks to the judges, Emiko Miyashita, Lev Hart, and Andrew Shimield!

fallen leaves

our dog jumps into a sea

of crimson

Geppo: The Haiku Work-Study Journal of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society, Volume L1:1, February 2026

November 2025 - January 2026

a chick roosting

on the barn cat's head . . .

snowdrifts

scattered flurries

a blue jay buries nuts

in the window box

Winter Challenge Kigo: First Winter Rain, hatsu shigure

first winter rain

for a moment I thought

you walked beside me

Honoured to know that "a chick roosting" was included among the favourites of Dojin Patricia J. Machmiller, and "scattered flurries" was included among the favourites of Dojins Hiroyuki Murakami and Patricia J. Machmiller.

Also honoured that "scattered flurries" was included among the "Voted Best" in the subsequent issue.

Geppo: The Haiku Work-Study Journal of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society, Volume L:4, November 2025

August - October 2025

All Hallows' Eve an intermittent flurry of snow ghosts

embers burn holes

in their makeshift tent . . .

first frost

Autumn Challenge Kigo: Autumn Deepens, aki fukashi

deep autumn

cranberries anchor

the bog

Honoured to know that "All Hallows' Eve" was included among the favourites of Dojin Emiko Miyashita, and "embers burn holes" was included among the favourites of Dojins Emiko Miyashita and Phillip Kennedy.

Sunday, June 07, 2026

Keeping Faith, Yuki Teikei Haiku Society 50th Anniversay Members' Anthology 1975 - 2025, 2025

My thanks to the editor, Gregory Longenecker!

freight train the rags of a vagabond moon

candy floss

hair ice transforms

a rotten branch

Members' Celebratory Haiku:

fox's wedding

this metamorphosis

of light

Also included in this anthology is "The Poet's Journey" by Ellen Brooks, who created and performed a kyogen style dance using haiku composed by the society's members. The dance was performed at the society's fiftieth anniversary dinner held on May 10, 2025, and again at the Haiku Retreat on November 6, 2025. I was over the moon to know that the following two haiku were incorporated into her performance:

my body

becoming weightless . . .

spindrift

yutori

offering my held breath

to the wind

(note: yutori = the Japanese philosophy of creating space (mentally, physically, and emotionally) for joy and longevity)

Password: Journal of Very Short Poetry, Issue 3.2, June 2026

K-shaped

the beetle in her belly

dive in

Frogpond, Vol. 49, Number 1, Winter 2026

Thrilled that the following poem was selected by Joan C. Fingon and Lee Hudspeth for inclusion in their essay: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow: The Power of Color in Haiku":

Section: Color Words and Parts of Speech

"Strange's poem below gives equal weight to "dandelion" and "yellow" in the beginning and at the end of the monoku. By separating the two words, i.e., instead of writing "yellow dandelions," the poet emphasizes the yellowness of the entire experience. Here, "yellow"—as a primary color and as a property—is equally as important as the flower's color and the mood it represents.

dandelions the multiplication factor of yellow

Bottle Rockets #45

Frogpond, Vol. 48, Number 3, Autumn 2025

Honoured that this issue contains a lovely review of Random Blue Sparks by Allyson Whipple which can be accessed under the book's tab of this blog. Also featured in this issue are the results of the 2025 Haiku Society of America Merit Book Awards in which Random Blue Sparks placed third. The judges' report can also be found under the book's tab of this blog.

Wales Haiku Journal, Spring 2026

fossil hunter

dragonflies sunning

on the erratic

Waka Society of America, Petals Journal (Waka in English), 2026

that afternoon

we lay together beyond

our garden wall . . .

undulating mosses still

mimic the shape of you

one window

remains in the church

where we danced

coloured shafts of light

tango with shadows

I weave

a mourning cloak on the loom

of your loss,

obsidian threads pulled from

storm clouds and starless nights

this dull ache

of yearning every autumn . . .

I recall how

the wind played with your hair,

your hands played with mine

Blossoms in the Breeze: Twenty Years of Haiku from the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, 2026

Thrilled to be included in this gorgeous anthology of the top winners of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku Invitational from 2006-2025. Grateful thanks to the 2017 VCBF Judges, Devar Dahl, Angelee Deodhar, and Billie Wilson, and to the editor, Michael Dylan Welch!

transience . . .

petal by petal

we let go

Canada Winner

Upstate Dim Sum, Route 9 Haiku Group - A Biannual Anthology of Haiku and Senryu, Number 1, Spring 2026

Honoured to be the guest poet for this issue of Upstate Dim Sum!

bowed lyre

a willow shouldering

the wind

an obituary

I did not expect to see . . .

frost smoke

someone's mitten

frozen to the slough . . .

fallow fields

empty beach

gulls have lost their reason

to squawk

whale bones

snow makes a church

of them

inky caps

make their own puddles . . .

valley rain

Special thanks to Ion Codrescu for creating this lovely haiga for inclusion in the issue:

Ribbons, Volume 22, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2026

the old oak

leans against our fence

all those times

you held me up when

I was about to fall

Tsuri-doro: A Small Journal of Haiku and Senryu, Issue #33, May/June 2026

the missing pocket

on a veteran's jeans . . .

scud clouds

Sonic Boom, World Collage Day 2026

My thanks to Shloka Shankar and Robin Smith for selecting the following collage for inclusion in Sonic boom's lovely World Collage Day eBook (24 collages were selected from 80 submissions):

Sommergras: Magazine of the German Haiku Society, Issue 152, March 2026

Translated into German

Honoured to have the following collaborative haiga included in this issue:

photograph: Claudia Brefeld

haiku: Debbie Strange

Seashores - An International Journal to Share the Spirit of Haiku, Vol. 15, April 2026

today is the day . . .

our ginkgo tree drops

every leaf

walrus tusks

a rusty pickaxe stuck

in the glacier

Our Best Haiga: Black and White Haiga/Haisha, May 2026

Curated by Lavana Kray

May 16, 2026

(note: this tanka art first appeared in Ribbons 17.2, Spring/Summer 2021)

May 31, 2026: "fly" feature (included among Selected Best/Fly for May)

(note: this haiga first appeared in Haiga in Focus #67 in colour)

NeverEnding Story: Biting NOT Barking Series, May 2026

Translated into Chinese by Chen-ou Liu:

zombie fires

come back from the dead . . .

this wilderness

haunted by skeletons

and memories of trees

Blithe Spirit 35.4, 2025

Chen-ou Liu's Comments:

This tanka bridges climate science and Gothic imagery. In L1, "zombie fires," refers to overwintering peat fires that smoulder underground through freezing winters before reigniting in spring. By framing this ecological phenomenon as a literal haunting in L2, the tanka emphasizes the lingering trauma climate change inflicts upon natural landscapes.

In L4, "skeletons" operates as a powerful double entendre, evoking both charred tree trunks and traditional images of the dead. L5, "memories of trees," deepens the sense of grief and absence, suggesting ecosystems that survive only as traces or recollections. Nature is irrevocably altered: the once-living forest has become a graveyard of skeletons that refuses to rest in peace.